Congressman Barrow thanks Richmond County voters

Among the Democrats claiming victory in this year's general election is congressman John Barrow, and he's doing it right here in Augusta.

His contentious 12th District race now shows him leading Republican Max Burns by just over 900 votes, with only six precincts left to be counted.

Over 140,000 people voted in the 22-county district.

News 12 caught up with the congressman at the Democratic headquarters downtown.

Barrow will likely serve a second term in the House of Representatives, beating Burns by a slim margin. He came to Augusta today to announce his victory.

Richmond County was very good to Barrow this election; he took Burns nearly two-to-one in our area.

"I'm proud of the fact I got that kind of support here," Barrow told News 12. "I want to remind folks that I got that kind of support last time. One thing I'm real proud of is that of all of the counties we kept in the new district, I improved my success over what I did in all of those counties--the results we got two years ago.

"I want folks to know this also," Barrow went on. "This is an election for the US House of Representatives that will probably be decided by a margin of difference of a little over a thousand votes. I got more than seven times that margin of victory right here in Richmond County alone. So I want folks here to know that I mean it when I say that without the support of folks here in Richmond County, I wouldn't have the opportunity of serving in Congress."

The Democrats have gained a number of seats in Congress, taking the majority of the House. We asked Congressman Barrow how that will change the way things get done in Washington.

"There's been a lot of worry and a lot of scare-mongering in the days leading up to the election by folks trying to portray this as an option between choosing between one extreme and another, a swing from one extreme to another extreme," Barrow said.

"I think the exact opposite's going to happen, because there's some 40 or 50 or so Democrats like me who are moderates and centrists, who cross the aisle to work with folks on the other side of the aisle and cross the aisle to vote with folks on the other side of the aisle when it's in the best interests of the folks we represent. We're not rubber-stamp members of Congress.

"And in the next Congress, I think we're going to have enough members to do that so that for a change, we're going to get a chance to vote on things on their merits."

The numbers are so close that there will be an automatic recount. State certification is not expected to happen until November 15.

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